The Last Night of Frank Longbottom
by Nightengale
Summary: What really happened the night Bellatrix Lestrange and company went to the Longbottom house in 1981? This is Frank's story.


Frank heard them before he saw them. He heard the door break and he wondered for a moment why the protection charm on the house hadn't stopped the intruders. He heard his wife scream and cast a spell.

"Longbottom!"

It was Rodolphus Lestrange. Frank remembered for a moment how Rodolphus had looked back at Hogwarts. Rodolphus had always seemed secretive to Frank, hiding behind his chin long brown hair. No wonder fate had led them in opposite directions.

"Frank Longbottom, come out!"

Bellatrix Lestrange was here too; the happy death eater couple.

Gripping his wand tightly, Frank crept down the corridor, ducking into the room on his right.

"Frank, darling." She had a way of changing her tone in an instant from sinister to soothing. "Frank your wife is lonely. She needs you."

Frank looked down at the crib beside him and wondered how it was that just that evening they had decided to have little Neville spend the night at his grandmother's. Why out of all the nights of the year had they chosen this fateful night to have their baby out of harms way, without even knowing it? What would he tell Neville later, that he'd known all along; that it was just chance; or that it was fate? Would he see Neville to tell him he loved him one last time?

"Frank, this is hardly becoming behavior of one of the Ministry's Auror's. I don't want to have to come looking for you. After all if you don't appear I can always _talk_ to lovely Alice here."

Rodolphus was never as commanding as his wife when he spoke.

"Frank!"

Frank knew now that he would not be able to come up with a plan. Finally, holding his wand like a sword drawn in front of him, Frank walked out into the atrium where the party of death eaters and his wife were assembled.

"You called, Lestrange?"

In front of him Frank now saw that there were in fact four death eaters, not just the Lestrange couple. Little Rabastan Lestrange stood behind his older brother. Frank remembered how Rabastan always used to follow his older brother around when they were at school together. He seemed to be permanently bound to living in Rodolphus's shadow, even now as he stood behind Rodolphus blocking the front door. The last of the quartet was a young boy hiding in the corner, his wand held at Alice's throat. His face was in shadow but there was no mistaking the son of Barty Crouch. Did the notorious dark wizard persecutor know his own son was here with his wand at an auror's neck? Frank couldn't think about that now. He couldn't think about what if his son was to become just like this?

"I would suggest you drop your wand and pass it to us."

Who could argue with Bellatrix Lestrange, especially when she had your wife at wand point? He threw his wand down at her feet.

"Your lord has been destroyed. It's only a matter of time before you're caught and sent to Azkaban. You'll gain nothing here."

Frank had never been a Gryffindor but there was nothing that said Hufflepuff's couldn't be brave. Not to mention it took just about all the bravery he had to look at Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange and say that.

"Our lord is not destroyed!"

She angered easily. Frank remembered that from one time at lunch in the great hall when a Ravenclaw boy and accidentally trod on her robes. Had that boy even come back to school afterwards?

"He can never be destroyed, not when there are those still loyal to him. We will find him and you will help us."

Bellatrix always had a way of surprising you. You thought you would get use to but never did.

"I will never help you."

Frank didn't even hear her cast the spell. He just heard Alice scream something and he hit the floor. He'd experienced the cruciatus once before during the second attack upon their home but nothing ever prepared you for it, no matter how times you were subjected to it. To Frank it felt like there was fire replacing the blood in his body and this fire was trying with all the might of the earth to burn its way straight out through his skin and internal organs. When you are under the cruciatus curse time has no meaning. All you can think of is stopping it. It could last a minute or an hour and all you can think is stop, stop, stop. Frank couldn't even tell if he was screaming or not.

"Where has he gone, Longbottom?"

Was that Barty Jr? Frank could hardly hear.

"Tell us. We know you are high up in the auror chain of command. We know you learn and hear things others don't. What happened in Godric's Hollow? Where is Lord Voldemort?"

Rabastan always waited till last, didn't he?

Frank couldn't stop the shiver that crept up his spine as he forced himself up onto his knees. Teeth almost chattering from pain Frank stared up at the four sets of eyes on him and refused.

The second wave left Frank seeing waves of red before his eyes. He felt fire and nails, claws scraping from inside his body. Teeth were eating his body from within as Frank could only try to tell it to stop. His heart had turned into molten lava and now he could hear his own screams.

"Frank, darling."

How could a voice so soothing come out of this wretched creature?

"Frank, you must tell us what you know. You can stop this. We will spare you."

His wife was crying and Bellatrix's voice iced over.

"Just tell us what you know. Tell us where to find him. Don't make us ask Alice too."

"No!"

Frank could do nothing as Alice's screams joined his own. Fire flowed through them like lightening, illuminating their shared agony.

Time began to fade away. The storm of claws, teeth, knives and lightening came and went, punctuated by those voices. Rabastan asking 'where, where where?' Rodolphus saying, 'tell us, tell us, tell us.' Little Barty Crouch Jr. screaming in rage and Bellatrix just laughing. Or was it Frank that was laughing? Why did it feel like he was swimming through a sea of fire? Why was his blood made of knives? Was it Alice that was laughing?

Frank saw eyes behind his eyes; eyes burning into him and asking questions. What had they been asking? Where was he and why was there an animal in his chest trying to claw its way out? What was going on? What was that noise, that deafening noise that never stopped? Was he making that noise?

"Frank, Frank, Longbottom! Tell us, tell us, where, where is he, tell us-Frank! Tell us, where! We have to find- Tell us! Frank Longbottom! Frank!"

What is this name? Why were there nails inside his body? Neville? Alice? Why are these names in his head?

"Frank Longbottom! Tell us! Frank!"

Who is Frank?


End file.
